THE three worst sets of emergency ambulance response times in Wales during October were recorded in parts of Gwent.

Performance against the eight-minute response standard in Torfaen, Caerphilly and Monmouthshire came in the bottom three of Wales’ 22 council areas, with Blaenau Gwent the sixth worst.

In all four areas last month, less than half of category A emergency calls received an on-scene response within eight minutes.

Only in Newport (58.6 per cent) did the ambulance service’s performance come anywhere near the target for individual areas – that a minimum 60 per cent of category A calls receive the eight minute on-scene response.

The Welsh Government called the October figures “disappointing” and opposition AMs were quick to condemn them.

Monmouth AM Nick Ramsay (Conservative) said he was appalled and pointed out that ambulance response times have deteriorated by ten percentage points compared with the same month last year.

“These latest figures will be of serious concern to my constituents, who should be confident that when they are faced with a life-threatening situation they can expect a prompt medical response,” said Mr Ramsay.

“I know from the many complaints I receive that a long wait for an ambulance to arrive is extremely distressing and can mean the difference between life and death.”

William Graham AM (Conservative, South Wales East) said: “Each month I raise the poor ambulance response rates, particularly in Monmouthshire and Torfaen, with the health minister (Mark Drakeford).

“He acknowledges there are challenges, but after countless reviews, there appears to be little action to address this matter, and no progress in improving the response times for our region.

“The professionalism of our paramedics and A&E staff is unquestionable. It is a management system issue that needs to be addressed if this matter is to be resolved.

“The minister explained he is looking at ‘other factors’ to define the performance of our ambulance service. I note this with some concern, as repeated failure to meet a 75 per cent response rate within eight minutes resulted in the Welsh Government reducing its target to 65 per cent.”

The Welsh Liberal Democrats described the statistics as “shocking”.